What Color is Kindness?
by Miraie-Chan
Summary: Edward meets a young artist while he is staying in Central City. He becomes very close to her, and she even accompanies Edward to learn alchemy. But what happens when she is kidnapped, and used as bait to lure Edward into a trap? EdxOc. my first fanfic.
1. The Alchemist and the Easel

-Edward-

God. Another boring day in Central. After being lectured by Colonel Sarcasm himself, I was given another mission, which the Colonel probably has rigged so the outcome is to his liking. And to top matters off, I was kicked out by the repair staff from my dorm. I had no idea what to do. Now I get to wander around this stupid city when I could happily be sleeping of that stupid meeting.

And it's cold, too. Winter in Central really sucks. I sigh. At least it's not as bad as that ridiculous Briggs Mountain. Pulling my jacket closer, I shuffle through the crowd. The people are massing everywhere, doing all their holiday shopping, and stuff. Pausing at a window, I peer inside. Maybe I should get something for Al… maybe later.

Wandering around, I yawn. Lucky Al. He got to stay at the HQ helping out Lt. Hawkeye. That's what I should have done. I pause at a small outdoor café and buy a mug of coffee. Sitting down at one of the small wrought-iron tables, I gaze blankly around.

A bookstore, a clothing boutique, just a bunch of little stores that I could see through the thinning crowds. Guess everyone's done with there shopping. My eyes pause on what looks to be a small art gallery. The window shows a collection of paintings. Outside, there was a girl with long dark hair painting on an easel.

I yawn again, and take another sip of the coffee. It's not that bad actually, definitely worth that 100 _sens_. In the distance I hear a locomotive whistle blow. A train must have just pulled into the station.

I leaned back in the chair and pulled out the alchemy book I borrowed from Central Library. I was well into chapter 3 when I heard a surprised cry and a crash of wood breaking.

I glanced up, and way that a huge man, with lots of tattoos on his arms, sneer at the girl outside the art gallery. He had crashed into her easel, knocking it over and breaking it.

"Watch were you going!" he grunted. I found myself walking over behind the bully, as she looked up at the huge man and stammered "S-sorry," even though the look on her face seemed anything but.

I gotta admit, though, the guy was huge. Just as I was about to speak up, a man exited from the store, big and muscled, with dark skin and a wiry beard, and took one look at the girl and turned to the tattoo man, and said, in a deep gravely voice,

"May I ask what you are doing to Miss Bryant?"

Tattoo man sneered at him, and turned around, almost running into me. I sneered right back at him, and I watched him retreat. Bullies always knew when to run away. I turned to see the man who had exited the store walking away and the girl picking up her painting, which seemed to be unharmed.

I bent down to help her pick up the pieces of her easel. "Thank you, for helping me" she said.

"No problem" I said, picking up the last pieces, and making sure I didn't miss any.

"So, were do you want this?" I asked, meaning to the broken easel in my hands. "Oh, you can bring it in here."

"OK" I followed her into the store.

It was a roomy place, with tall shelves framing paintings. The walls were painted a pale yellow that reflected the light in the room. There was faint classical music playing in the background and the whole place had a faint floral smell around it. I placed the pieces of the easel on a table towards the back of the room, next to a large vase of pink and red roses. The girl skipped up a wide staircase with the painting in her hands. I rearranged the pieces of the easel on the table, just about piecing it together the way it was. She came back down the stairs as I clapped my hands together.

"What are you…?" She started to ask. "Just watch." I grinned at her. I placed my hands on the broken easel, and with a flash and a bang, it was in one piece again. I watched her eyes widen, and her mouth drop open as she picked up the easel.

"Wow! You fixed it." She placed the easel upright and ran her hands over it. She looked at me, her eyes wide.

"You're an alchemist?" I grinned. "But how did you transmute without a circle?" I was puzzled. "Huh? You know about alchemy?" She shrugged. "Only a little. My grandfather is an alchemist." "Oh." I looked out the window.

She picked up the easel and walked over to a corner of the room, placing it against the wall, and then looked over at me.

"So… I don't think I ever caught your name…" She had curiosity in her brown eyes. "Oh!" I said "Edward Elric."

"I'm Emma. Emma Bryant."

I nodded. "Ok, got it. Emma." She had a slim, but wiry frame, with long dark brown hair, almost black. She had wide, deep brown eyes. She smiled at me again, and then turned to face some of the paintings on the wall. I walked over to another shelf. It was full of portraits of people, all more paintings.

They were spectacular! I could hardly tell if they where paintings or photographs. As I looked at the various paintings, I heard a small sound behind me. Emma was standing at a desk in the back corner; she was hunting through some of the drawers.

"Hey, did you paint these?" I asked, motioning to the shelves.

"Oh, you mean the portraits? Yeah, I painted all of the pictures in here. Especially the portraits. Those are one of my specialties." She answered with a smile, brushing some of her dark brown hair out of her eyes.

"Wow" I looked around again, taking in everything. "So, are these of actual people?" "Yes."

"But, if you're getting a portrait done, wouldn't you want to keep it?"

"Well, yes." She walked over to the shelves. "But, sometimes, if I really like a portrait, I ask if I can make a copy and hang it here"

"Ah. Okay."

She started to move back to her desk, when I blurted "Do you think you could do one of me?"

She glanced back at me, seeming to be taken unaware. "Sure, I guess, if you want…" she trailed of looking quickly at her wristwatch, "It's getting close to closing time, though. Do you think you could come back tomorrow?

I sneaked a look at my own watch. It was getting sort of late…I should get back to the dorm. I nodded.

"Ok, then. We open at 7 o'clock"

"Thanks." Stepping out into the now twilight-lit Central City, I shivered. It had gotten colder while I had been inside the little art store.

I walked back to the dorms that Al and I were staying in. As I walked through the door, I caught the smell of my favorite food. Al was already sitting at the table, eating from a bowl.

"Yeah! You got stew!" I exclaimed as I hung up my coat.

"Hey Brother" Al greeted me. I grinned.

"Al, you are an awesome brother. Thanks." I sat down and dug in. I sill didn't understand how something with milk in it could taste as good as stew.


	2. Red Coat, Gold Eyes

-Emma-

The next morning, I woke sluggishly and stared at the ceiling for a moment. I then rolled over and stared at my alarm clock, willing not to be the time I though it was.

Crud! 6:45!

I shot up and stumbled across my room; flipping on the lights and yanking open my wardrobe. Fumbling into a plain blue tee-shirt and a pair of black pants, I cursed myself for sleeping through my alarm.

I quickly brushed through my long dark brown hair, fussing with my bangs for a moment in the mirror, and headed out my door. I grabbed two apples from the bowl on the kitchen table on my way through it.

I slid down the banister, and bounced over to the door, pulling on my shoes on the way, unlocking it and switching the closed sign to open. I then sat down at my desk and tried to look like I hadn't just woken up.

I crunched into my first apple and grabbed one of the sketchbooks I kept lined up along the back of my desk, flipping through it to the last sketch I had been working on. A couple minuets later, my first costumer walked in. I helped several more people throughout the morning.

After lunch I finally returned to my drawing, pulling out a canvas and started to copy it on it so I could paint it later. Once I was done, I went back upstairs for a second, for some of my pens. I heard the bell ding again, and walked back downstairs. I turned around a shelf and almost ran into Edward. "Oh! Hello." "Hey, Emma."

"Are you ready to get your portrait done, Edward?" He smiled at me, sort of nervously. I started to walk over a wide gap between the backs the shelves, with a chair and two lamps positioned by it. I motioned for him to follow.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Edward frowned at me, looking confused. I pointed to the chair

"If you could just sit there, that would be great." He lowered himself into the chair and I adjusted the lights, changing the shadows around him, making them deeper. I pulled over my easel, canvas and paints.

I glanced back at Edward. He was sitting up, watching me.

"Ok, just keep sitting like that." I told him

I set to mixing my first color. Hmm…I started with the outline of his jacket. A nice, rich red. I liked it. I brushed my hair out of my eyes and applied the first layer.

Once I finished all that, and then started on his face. It was easy to mix his skin tone. But his eyes, though… what a vibrant gold! His hair, too. It was about the same color. I mixed a very light shade of brown into the color, to capture the depth in his eyes.

I then finished on the second layer of paints, and that is when Edward spoke up.

"Are you almost done?"

I looked up at him. He was leaning back in the chair, looking at me with a glazed expression on his face. I set my brush down on the tray of my easel.

"I'm sorry, Edward. Am I boring you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Only a lot."

Edward stood up from the chair, and walked over to look at the painting.

"Is this it?" he frowned, tilting the canvas to get a better look at it. I pulled it away, fearing he would smudge the still-wet paint

"Careful! And it's not done, yet. I'll probably finish by tomorrow."

Edward's eyebrows rose. "By tomorrow? It takes that long? Why?"

I crossed my arms. "Well, it's harder then it looks. And I have other things I am doing." He snorted. "Yeah. Whatever."

It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. "You don't like it, do you?" He turned away. "Its…not that…"

"Then what is it?"

He glanced at me over his shoulders, "oh, nothing…"

"Yeah, right. If it's something you don't like, then you can tell me."

"No. Forget it, okay?"

"You know what," I said walking around to face him, "I am not going to forget it." I put my hands on my hips and stared him down. He stared right back at me.

"You know what? Too bad." He pushed past me.

"What's your problem?" I demanded. That made Edward turn back around.

"My problem? Well, that's none of your business, is it? And!" he said, catching the look on my face. "It has nothing to do with you stupid painting!"

"Stupid!" I was mad now. "It is not stupid! You're the stupid one! You can't even appreciate it!" He smirked.

"Appreciate it? Appreciate what? It's just a painting! Whoop tee do!" he waved his hands next to his face to emphasize the 'whoop tee do'

"Just a painting? Now, you listen to me, you little jerk…" Edward's face twitched, and I trialed off.

"What? You don't like being called a jerk?"

"No! That's not--"

I cut him off, thinking. "Your right! It's not the jerk part is it? You don't like being called little!"

A vein pulsed in his forehead, and I knew I had hit a nerve. Bingo.

"Well, get over it. You are little! You're only a good half inch taller than me!"

"No, I am not!" He practically yelled. I took a step closer.

"Yeah, you are! Look!" I ran my hand from the top of my head to his. My fingers bumped against his forehead just above his eyebrows. He smacked my hand away.

"So?!?" Edward demanded, obviously trying to keep his composure.

"How old are you?" I said. He seemed taken aback.

"I-I'm fifteen." Edward stuttered. Hah!

"Oh yeah? I'm fourteen!" He glared at me, his teeth grinding together.

"That's it! I am leaving!" Then he turned and stormed over to the door.

Edward turned in the doorway, and pointed back at me.

"Oh, and Emma? Don't expect me to come back anytime soon!"

I followed him, catching the door before it could close, and shouted after his retreating form.

"You still owe me 740 _sens_ for the portrait!" He stared back at me, this exasperated -- and slightly angry-- look on his face. I pulled back into the store, not waiting for him to respond.

I watched him through the window, staring at the shop for another minute, and then storm off. I smiled to myself and returned to my desk.


	3. A Dash of Trouble

-Edward-

I grumbled to myself as I walked the streets of Central, Alphonse behind me. What a way to start the day, first having to see that little jerk, Emma, and then having to deal with Mustang. How dare she call me small! I was way taller than she was… I tried to convince myself. Not working.

"Brother, where are we going? The Colonel wanted to see us first thing this morning…" I turned around.

"Yeah, I know, Al. But, I have to do this really quick, first. I promise it won't take long." Al nodded. We arrived at the store entrance. I stared up at the sign "Bryant's Gallery" it read, in big letters. I couldn't believe what she had said yesterday. 740 _sens_ for a picture? I shook my head. Ridiculous.

"Is this it, Brother?" I nodded to Al and went inside the store. The bell rang overhead and I glanced around as I walked past the shelves into the middle of the room.

"Hey, Edward." I jumped. Emma had come up behind me. She had her long hair tied up, and was wearing a pastel-green shirt and blue jeans. I guess she had been in that corner, by her desk, again.

"Hey." I expected another height jibe, or something, but instead she smiled at me.

"Are you ready to see your portrait?" She asked. I shrugged, just wanting to get this over with, and feeling Alphonse's eyes boring into the back of my head. She walked me over to one of the shelves. The portrait was hanging there. I felt my jaw drop open.

"Ta da! What do you think?" She smiled at me eagerly.

It was fantastic. It was like looking into a mirror. I stared out of the paint, my eyes seemed to burn, and my hair and coat stood out strong against the dark grey background. She had managed to capture me perfectly on that canvas. I heard Alphonse murmur softly behind me.

"Wow…" I echoed him, unable to think of anything else to say. Emma beamed next to me.

"Do you like it?" I stared at her, unbelieving that this girl could do something of this magnitude. Then I snapped back to normal.

"It's really good! You really painted this?" Alphonse cut in before I could say anything. She turned to him, still smiling.

"Yep! I did. I'm Emma, by the way."

"Alphonse Elric. Nice to meet you" Alphonse politely shook her hand.

"Elric? That means your Edward's older brother, right?"

"Huh? Uh, well…"

"I'M his older brother." I snapped

Emma glanced from me to him.

"Oh…Whoops" It was understandable, of course. Emma glanced at Alphonse's imposing armor again.

"Well!" I said, clapping my hands together to get Emma's attention "How much do I owe you for it?" I jabbed my thumb at the portrait.

"740 _sens_" She replied. I expected that.

"That much? But, I fixed your easel, remember? Don't I get a little discount for that?" I said warmly, smiling at her.

"Yes, you do. I already took it out for you. You got 50% off." That caught me off guard. I stared blankly at her.

"I know you alchemist types. Equivalent Exchange, right? My Grandfather was always going on about that. So, I thought ahead and took the price off already. Although," Emma smiled slyly at me. "If you prefer to pay the full price…"

"No, no. That's quite fine." I kept my grin plastered on my face as I fished out my wallet.

"But, let's say this. I'll pay for it, but you keep it here. Where I'm going, I can't really take a paining with me." She nodded, and thankfully, didn't ask any questions. I gave her the correct amount and called out to Al, walking to the door.

"C'mon, Al. Lets go" Alphonse followed without a word and walked next to me down the street. I looked sideways at him. this was unusual, even for Al.

"Hey, Brother?" Al looked questioningly at me.

"What is it, Al?" He suddenly grinned.

"Emma's really pretty, isn't she, Brother?"

"Hey!" I shouted "What's that supposed to mean?"

I ended up chasing him all the way to HQ.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stumbled through the double doors, exhausted from the running. Al gave a laugh, and I couldn't help grinning also.

"Hello, boys." A voice reached us as we rounded a corner to Mustang's office. First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye was standing by the door.

"Hello, Lieutenant Hawkeye." Alphonse bowed respectively.

"We're here to see Mustang" I jerked my thumb at the door. Hawkeye nodded.

"That's what I thought. But he's in a meeting with someone right now."

"Oh, alright then." Al said.

"C'mon, let's get a bite to eat at the cafeteria." Al and I walked down the hallway. Hawkeye called after us.

"I'll come and get you once he's done."

"That won't be necessary, Lieutenant." Mustang stepped out of his office, and grinned at the two of us.

"You can come I now, boys." I couldn't help grimacing. I followed Al into the office, and sat down one of the two chairs in front of the desk. Mustang sat down at his desk, flipping through a huge stack of paperwork on it. He handed me a manila envelope. I flipped it open.

"That's your next assignment, Fullmetal."

I thumbed through the pages, muttering to myself as I read it.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric is assigned to report on the town of Wainton. Wow. They really are sending me to a backwater place this time."

Mustang nodded. "There have been reports on terrorists in the area, but we think it's an idle threat. But, the higher-ups want us to investigate, anyway."

I sneered. "So you're sending me to do the dirty work, as usual, huh, Mustang?"

"No, no. Not at all, Elric. You see, I would of course go and investigate myself, but I have really been busy, and I have another important assignment at that time."

I rolled my eyes. Yeah right. The every-loafing Roy Mustang, working. I flipped through the papers again, and caught time of the date I was supposed to leave.

"This says I'm supposed to leave next Wednesday. Why?" Why couldn't I just get it over with now?

"Yeah. That's because that is the earliest time a train is leaving that will take you almost directly there." Mustang shrugged. "Like you said, It is a backwater town." He stood up from behind the desk.

"Alright, Fullmetal. You're dismissed."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I flipped through a book, bored to death. I had figured, as long as I was going to Wainton, I might as well find out more about it. But, I didn't think it would be this dull! All I had learned was that it used to have a large weapons factory. I stood up and shoved the book back into the shelves, then exited the store. I watched the sky staring to change colors with the sunset. I was walking past a small grocery store when someone I recognized, to my surprise—and annoyance—walked out. Emma. I sighed. It had to be her, didn't it? She glanced at me surprised, and then smiled.

"Hi, Edward"

"Hey." Great.

"What are you doing?" She glanced at me, and then stared down at the bag in her hands. I sighed again.

"I was just at a bookstore." I walked on ahead, taking a several turns, and when I took a right turn down an alley, was surprised to see Emma still behind me.

"Are you following me?" I demanded. She glared back at me.

"Uh, no. Why in the world would I follow you? I'm just going this way also." I rolled my eyes and started to turn back around, when I noticed a figure enter the alleyway behind Emma. She stiffened also, and I groaned internally. That could only mean one thing. I turned to face the three thugs who had come up behind me.

"And what, may I ask, do you idiots want?"

The tallest, and ugliest, answered me. I took him to be the leader.

"Nothing with you, twerp." The ones behind him snickered, and another spoke up.

"So, wadda say, sweetheart? Why don't you ditch Blondie and come with us?" He was addressing Emma. I automatically stepped between them and Emma, and heard her back up a little.

"Um, well, you see--" she suddenly broke off with a gasp, and I whirled around to see that the one behind us had grabbed her.

"Dammit!" I launched myself at him, when I was also grabbed. I struggled in his grip, as he twisted my arms behind me. He sneered in my ear.

"Not this time, shorty." I snapped. I jerked my shoulder back, driving it into his chest. He dropped me, and slammed my fist into the side of his head, making sure he would stay down.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A HALF-PINT BEANSPROUT MIDGET? HUH??" I shouted, striking out at the next one with a side kick. I connected, and he stumbled backwards.

Behind me, I heard a cracking sound. Emma had smashed the goon that was holding her in the face with her elbow.

"Argh! You broke by dose!!" he staggered back, and Emma struck out with a kick in the stomach. I grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the alleyway, running along to the street her store was along. We stumbled to a stop outside, panting. I looked at her.

"Are you OK?" She rested with her hands on her knees for a moment, and then looked up at me, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Yeah, I am. Thank you, Edward." I grinned, and she straitened up, moving up the steps. She unlocked the door. Glancing back at me, she smiled softly and said again.

"Thanks, Edward. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there." I looked down, sort of embarrassed, a warm feeling in my chest. I scratched my head. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't get my mouth to work. I heard the lock rattle, and glanced up to see Emma waving at me from the other side of the door. I waved back.

I turned and headed for the dorms. I looked up at the stars, twinkling high above my head. It had turned out to be and interesting day.


	4. The Truth?

10

-Emma-

I sighed as I set by bag down onto one of the tables in the bookstore, pulling a piece of paper out of the side pocket. I unfolded it, checking the last item on the list. I started to walk down the aisle.

"Dang it, Michael. Next time, you're gonna do your own errands." I muttered to myself. I carefully ran one hand over the spines of the books. It wasn't on this shelf, that's for sure. I turned around, glancing at the shelf opposite me.

"Ok, lets see…it should be around here somewhere…how can none of these stores have this book?" I pushed a couple of books to one side, trying to see if it was stuck in the back. I moved slowly down the rows, my eyes still on the book spines. I faintly noted that the little bell over the store door rang. I tilted my head backwards, trying to see if the book was there. I stood on tiptoe to try to see. I pulled a book out so I could see the title, and another fell on top of my head.

"Ow!" I complained. I glared at the offending book, and then did a double take. I bent to pick up it up, triumphantly reading the cover. I tucked it under my arm, checking the title off on my list. I stuffed the paper back into my pocket, and headed towards the check out. I didn't notice someone step out of the row next to me until it was too late. I slammed right into them.

"Ouch!!" I cried, for the second time in, what, five minutes? Today was not my day. I put one hand to my head, for a second I wasn't sure if I had run into a bookshelf. I looked up, and was startled to realize I recognized the person standing in front of me. Well, that explained why it had hurt so much.

"Alphonse?" He looked down at me, seemingly startled. I couldn't really tell because of his armor, though.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there, Emma." I waved off his apology.

"It's my fault, really. I wasn't watching were I was going." I picked up my book, which I had dropped. Alphonse caught sight of the title.

"Is that an alchemy book? Are you researching alchemy?" He asked in a polite tone. I shook my head

"No, it's for my big brother. He's out of town and asked me to pick up some books for him." Alphonse nodded. I walked up to the register, placing my book on the counter. A boy walked out from a door behind it to ring up my book. I paid for it quickly, and walked over to where I left my bag. Alphonse followed me, fidgeting with his hands.

"Something wrong?" I glanced at him. He ducked his head a little.

"I've been looking for Edward. He wandered off somewhere around noon to do some research, and I haven't seen him since, and we have a meeting we are supposed to be at soon." I tried to refrain from rolling my eyes. I bet the little loser was lost. I opened my mouth to say something, and the bell over the door rang again. Edward walked in, without a care in the world.

"Brother! There you are." Alphonse walked over. Edward looked up causally.

"Hey Al."

"Brother, did you forget about our meeting?" Edward glanced around guiltily, and I had the distinct impression that he hadn't forgotten at all, but was trying to play hooky. He didn't answer Alphonse, but he noticed me for the first time.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, walking over.

"I was just getting a book. Is that illegal now or something?" I turned around, opening my bag quickly. As I stuffed Michael's book inside, a single piece of paper fell out, fluttering to the ground. Edward was trying to see the titles of the other books. Nosy little….

Alphonse bent over and picked up my paper, an old drawing of mine, that I had been using as a bookmark. He handed it to me, and I reached out to take it, muttering "thanks." Edward glanced at it, and I suddenly saw his eyes widen. He snatched the drawing out my hand.

"Hey!" I cried, while Alphonse also chided Edward, "Brother, give that back!" He ignored both of us, staring at the sketch as if in shock. After a moment, he looked up at me, the weirdest look on his face.

"Did you draw this?" His voice was suddenly really serious.

"Well, duh. Why?" He was staring at me with an unreadable expression, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. What was his problem?

"Brother, what is it?" Alphonse bent over the drawing too, and Edward muttered something I couldn't hear. Alphonse let out a small gasp, and glanced up at me too.

"What's your guys' problem?" I asked. Edward held out the drawing.

"Do you know what this is?" He demanded.

"Not really." I tried to shrug of the serious mood. "It's a really old drawing from when I was little…what?" I trailed off at the looks on their faces.

-Edward-

I couldn't believe it. How could she not know what it is? She drew it, so she must have seen it. I stared at the paper, a nightmare I didn't want to remember. A huge door with a carving almost like a tree, with four circle shaped branches, one large circle at the top, floating in the middle of nothing. It looked like it was draw with a child's hand, but it was still unmistakable. Alphonse bent closer.

"Are you sure, Brother?" He muttered.

"Yeah, Al. no doubt in my mind. This really is it."

The Gate….the door to the Truth…

How could she draw this?

I glanced at Emma again. She was standing there, looking scared. I held out the drawing again.

"You've seen it?" I asked her. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"Seen what? You mean the door in that drawing? I drew that when I was like five, Edward. I don't even remember what it is." I ground my teeth together. She drew it. She MUST have seen it. She couldn't make up something like this.

"Do you have any other drawings like this?" Alphonse asked. Emma frowned at this, looking up.

"I think so..." She said slowly.

"Where?" I demanded.

"At my house." She frowned slightly. "I don't think that it's quite the same thing though."

"Whatever. Let us see it." Emma scowled a little at me, and leaned forward, pulling the drawing from my hand.

"Ok, pushy. Give me a sec." She gathered her things together and headed out the door. The cashier gave me a weird look on the way out, but I ignored him.

-----------------------------------------

Alphonse and I followed behind Emma, talking quietly together.

"Do you really think she's seen the Truth, brother?" Al muttered to me.

"I don't know, Al. That was definitely the door I saw, though. That's for sure. Dammit, this doesn't make any sense." I shook my head. It was like I was adding up two and two, but getting thirty-six. Emma has a drawing of the Gate, but she claims she doesn't remember it. She knows about alchemy, but because of her grandfather. She doesn't look like someone who's tried human transmutations…

"This is impossible..." I growled.

"Her older brother is researching alchemy. That's why she was at that store; she was picking up a book for him." Al said. I looked up at him, nodding.

"Hey." I called to Emma. She stopped and turned around.

"What?" She asked.

"Have you ever tried to do alchemy?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Has your brother?" Emma glanced at Al at this.

"No, he hasn't." She turned around, and continued walking. I scowled at the back of her head. Way to be helpful.

-------------------------------------------

Emma showed us into her house, leading us upstairs and into her room. We stood around, Alphonse still. I couldn't help but fidget. Emma rooted through a large desk, whose top was littered with papers, pens, and sketchbooks. She may be a fantastic artist, but it was obvious she was a bit of a slob. She finally pulled out two more paper drawings. She handed them to me, scowling slightly. I took them eagerly, and immediately recognized both. The first one was of long black shapes reaching out from inside a box. The Gate, again. The second one was coiling white shapes, with more vague, fuzzy images in them. I gripped this page tightly. It was the Truth! She _had _seen it….

"Hey!! Are you gonna tell me what the heck is going on?!" Emma cut through my concentration, and she sounded mad.

"Yeah, ok." I placed the two drawings down, pulling the third out of my pocket, laying them all on the desk.

"So, you know how I can do alchemy without a circle, right?" Emma nodded, so I continued. "Well, it's because I saw the Truth, which is this." I pointed at the drawing with the white shapes. Emma's face went blank for a second. I could see her piecing it all together in her head.

"Do…do you think that I can do alchemy like that too, then?" She said slowly.

"I don't know. Truthfully, none of this makes any sense."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…It's sort of complicated." If I explained all about the Truth and the price I had to pay to see it, everything about my human transmutation attempt would come out. And, I didn't really want the world to know about it. I stared down at the drawings on the table top again. I noticed something about the one with the things in the Gate. They weren't just reaching out randomly, as I had first thought; they were reaching for something hovering in the center of the page. The pencil had smudged slightly; I couldn't really tell what it was. I turned around to ask Emma, but she was glaring at the ground.

"You really think I've seen that… that 'truth' thing? Get real! I have never seen that before! It's just an old drawing!" I was surprised by the bitterness in her voice.

"Maybe you have seen it," Alphonse said quietly, "But you just forgot. Or don't remember. Or can't." Emma looked up quietly. Al has always been able to calm people down. I returned my attention to the smudge in the drawing, scowling at it. As Alphonse continued to calm Emma down, and explain what was going on as best he could, I worked on deciphering the stubborn little smear. I flipped the drawing upside down, examining it at all angles. I glanced back at Emma. She and Al just appeared to be chatting.

"Hey," I called to her. "Will you come here for a sec?" Emma walked over, and I showed her the drawing, pointing to the middle of it. She picked it up and looked at it.

"Hey, look," She said, "It says 'smear'."

"Very funny." I snapped. "Now, what do you think it is?" She just shrugged.

I grumbled to myself.

"Hey," Emma said, leaning on the desk next to me (I had sat down in her chair while she and Al had been talking) "Do you think I could be able to do alchemy, then?"

"I told you, I don't know. You could be like Al, who's seen it, but can't remember it, so can't. But, I think you do remember, because of the drawings."

"So, you think I can use alchemy like you, then."

"It's just a theory, but maybe." Emma rocked back on her heels, biting her lip slightly. I caught the look in her eye.

"The only way to tell would be to try." I glanced around quickly, and then pulled a wooden rod out from behind the desk.

"You need this for anything." Emma shook her head. "Okay, then" I shifted the papers spread across the desk and set the rod flat.

"So, what do I do?"

"Well, just clap your hands together—that makes a circle—and touch the rod. Nothing will transmute, because that isn't what you are trying to do, but if it works, it should just send out some alchemical light" Emma nodded and stepped closer to the desk. She touched her hands together and placed one against the rod. Suddenly, there was a flash and a bang, and a cloud of smoke filled the room, and Emma yelped in pain.

---------------------

Author's note.

Hey everyone. I'm sorry it took so long for me to upload the latest chapter. ^.^; I've been busy, and I was having a hard time thinking of something. Thank you for reading and enjoying my story.

Thankies,

Miraie-Chan 


	5. Big Brother

-Edward-

I felt Emma shove past me through the cloud of smoke, and heard her run out into the hallway. As soon as the smoke cleared, I followed her out, and found her in the bathroom, running cold water over her hand.

"It _burned _me!" She cried, not looking up from the sink, as I stood in the doorframe. "I thought you said nothing would happen!"

"I didn't think anything would!" I replied. She shoved her damp hand in my face.

"Well, this is certainly something!" She said. I carefully turned her hand over, looking at her palm. Angry red welts were rising on her had where she had touched the wooden rod. She returned her burned palm to the cold water, while I leaned against the door.

What in the world had happened?

It didn't make any sense. So, supposedly, she could transmute by clapping her hands together. But, when she had, it rebounded. So, she couldn't, because it would backfire. And, why had it backfired in the first place?

"Argh…" I muttered, rubbing my forehead.

I returned with Emma, who was still grumbling, to her room. Right away, I could tell Al had been doing some thinking. He was standing in a way that I knew that, if he wasn't armor, he would be smirking.

"What have you thought up, Al?" He rubbed his hands together.

"Well, Emma has seen the Truth. Right?" "In a way." I agreed. "Then that means she has enough memory of the truth, unlike me – I don't remember any of it – that she can use alchemy by clapping her hands." "So... I think that her memory of when she saw the truth has faded a little. She was little when she saw it, right?" Emma nodded. "Because that memory has faded, her alchemy has become unstable. So it backfires"

I nodded. "It makes sense. But I have a feeling that you aren't done yet"

"Exactly, Brother." Alphonse held up a finger for emphasis. "I think we should teach Emma alchemy until she understands it enough she won't hurt herself by mistake."

"You want to... teach me?" Emma muttered.

"Well, mainly Ed would teach you."

"What?! Why me?" I snapped.

"Well, it's your fault. If you hadn't been so annoying at the bookstore..."

"I get it!" I grumbled, as Emma nodded in agreement.

So that's how I ended up teaching alchemy to and artist.

* * *

The next few days, I went go to Emma's gallery every day with Alphonse and a load of books for her to read. I have to admit, Al's plan was a good one. I quickly learned that Emma's alchemy would stabilize more and more if it was applied to a transmutation circle. While Emma slaved over the books I handed out, I would try to figure out with Alphonse how she came by the truth.

-Emma-

Edward's a slave driver. When he's not making me study my brains out, he's testing me, or giving me a new transmutation circle, or teaching me some hand-to-hand combat, something he added after the third day of working together. He says he had it worse, learning alchemy. I don't think I'd fancy meeting his teacher.

But I have to admit, I am getting better.

Today, I followed Edward back to the dorms he was staying at. Because it was Sunday, I could leave the gallery closed so I could go. We spent a couple hours going over various circles, alloys and densities until my head was spinning. When we finally took a break for lunch, I followed him into the small kitchen, grumbling.

"Get over it." Ed muttered. "It's not that much."

"Some day, I'm gonna give you lessons on classical art. Then you'll know how I feel." I muttered as I peered in the fridge. It was full of covered bowls and tins of food. As Ed rummaged through the cabinets for tableware, I pulled some bowls out of the fridge and uncovered them. I looked at the contents and grimaced.

"Hey, Ed? Your salad is growing fur." He tilted the bowl towards himself with one finger.

"That's not salad." He told me. "That's some chicken." I stared at him, and then placed the bowl gingerly on the counter.

"Come on. It's not _that_ bad." He protested. I started to point how bad furry, green chicken was when Alphonse poked his head around the corner into the kitchen.

"No, go on, brother! Tell her about how the bologna developed into an intelligent life form."

"Shut up!" Ed yelled, turning red.

"And, don't forget how that salmon --"

"RAAAHHH!!!!" Ed charged at Al with a fork and the two of them disappeared into the next room. I could hear banging and thumping as they fought.

I pulled all salvageable food I could find out of the fridge and set myself to whip up something for a late lunch.

-Edward-

"Hey, there's something I've forgotten to tell you." Emma looked up a me curiously from the book she was reading as Al and I walked her back to her house.

"I'm not going to be able to give you any alchemy lessons next week, I'm going to be out of town for a little while." I explained. "Normally, I'd ask you to come too, because it's still dangerous for someone at your stage in alchemy training to be left to their own devices, but since you're the only one who can look after your store, we'll just resume our lessons where we left off."

"When are you leaving?" She asked me.

"Wednesday." Alphonse told her. She closed the book quietly and slid it into her over-the-shoulder bag.

"Well, if you're leaving Wednesday, I can come too. My big brother is coming back tomorrow." She said, catching my inquisitive look.

"Cool." Alphonse told her. "What is your brother like?"

"He's trying to find an apprenticeship as a carpenter."

"This is the same brother who tried to learn alchemy by himself, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," She replied. "He wanted a way to reuse the wood he messed up. But he could never figure anything out of the books he would get." I tuned out the rest of her and Al's conversation as I turned this little fact over in my mind. If she came with us, it could complicate things. There was also the little fact I hadn't told her I was a State Alchemist yet. But it would help to be able to keep on teaching her without a break. And, I had no idea what her brother might talk her into, alchemy-wise.

"Brother." Alphonse's voice shook me out of my thoughts. "Yeah, what is it?" I asked.

"We're gonna come with Emma to meet her brother tomorrow, so we can meet him and tell him about Emma's training." I gave him a irritated look.

"Thanks for asking my opinion."

"Well, you were talking to yourself again. I've learned to leave you alone when you do it."

"I was NOT talking to my self!" I growled.

"Yes, you were." Emma said calmly. We were outside her house already. "I'll see you tomorrow. Eight o'clock, okay?"

"Whatever." I grumbled, as Al said bye.

* * *

We met Emma outside at the time we had promised. She was wearing a pale blue, long-sleeved blouse, and white slacks. Her long hair was in a French braid. She returned our greetings, and we headed off for the train station together.

Once we got there, we sat down on a bench by the platform. I was trying to stifle yawns as Alphonse talked to Emma, who kept glancing at the large clock over the ticket counter.

"What time is the train supposed to come in?" Alphonse asked politely

"Eight thirty." Emma replied, who was now staring intently down the tracks. Ten minutes to go, then. Eventually, I started dozing off, while Al was watching a couple of birds playing and preening themselves in a puddle, and Emma sat poker-strait on the bench, still watching the tracks. I couldn't get why she was acting so tense. Finally, we heard the train whistle sound in the distance, and could see a small plume of steam rising far away. As the train pulled in closer, Emma leapt to her feet and walked forwards, staring through the crowd that was piling off the train. I noticed the man waving energetically at her a second before she did.

"Michael!" She shouted. She ran towards him and jumped up, throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him. He spun her around in a circle and placed her back on the ground. She lead him over to where Al and I were waiting, and I could see her talking to him enthusiastically.

"Ed, Al, this is my big brother, Michael. Michael, this is Edward and this is his little brother, Alphonse." She pointed to each of us in turn.

The first thing I noticed about Michael was that he was tall. He was over a head taller than Emma, and he had muscular arms and calloused hands. The next thing I noticed that he eyes were a carbon copy of hers, the same deep brown color. His hair was sandy brown, and shaggy so it flopped over his forehead.

"It's nice to meet you." He grinned at me and enveloped my hand in his large, square one. He greeted Alphonse as well. We head back to their house, and Michael struck up conversation with me.

"So, you're the alchemist Emma's told me about. I was kinda surprised when she introduced us. You're a lot--"

"DON'T call me short." I said sharply, cutting him off. He looked surprised, then smiled good-naturedly.

"I was going to say 'younger than I had imagined'. Not shorter."

"Oh." I said lamely, feeling a little embarrassed.

"But..." he continued "Your last name sounds a little familiar. It's Elric, right?" He looked thoughtful.

"Yeah." I replied, a little warily. I was struck that, having had researched alchemy, he might realize I was a State Alchemist. This made me nervous, because I had occasionally gotten a poor reception to that fact. Fortunately, Alphonse inquired something of Michael, and he turned away to talk to Al. We turned down their street, and as we came closer to their house, I caught up to Emma.

"Hey," I said in an undertone. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she replied. "Shoot."

"Umm.. How old is Michael?" She looked at me curiously.

"Eighteen. Why?"

"No reason." I said quickly, stuffing my hands in my pockets. A weird look crossed her face, and she gave me a dry little smile, then turned to talk to her brother again as we entered their house.

Eighteen, and that much taller than me. Only a three year difference.

Dammit.


	6. On the Rails

6

-Edward-

We met Emma early the next morning. I had my suitcase, all packed, and Al had bought some new comic books to read on the train. We had been waiting outside for about a minute when Emma backed out the front door, giving some last-second instructions to her brother.

"And, if you run out of paintings for sale, there are more in the back closet, okay?"

"Yes, boss." Michael replied thickly. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed, because his sandy hair was standing on end and his clothes had a distinctly rumpled look to them, and even now I could see him heading back upstairs, presumably to fall asleep again. Emma locked the door behind her, and then turned to face us. She was wearing a brown overcoat with a double row of buttons down the front, a blue shirt, a black skirt that came just above her knees and a pleat up the left seam, thick black tights and brown boots. She was also carrying a suitcase, and had a slim, grey messenger bag over her shoulders.

"Ready to go?" Al asked her.

"Yep." She replied, with maybe not as much energy as she usually would.

"Could you have maybe brought one more bag?" I asked her. She gave me a dry look, and then ignored me, striking up conversation with Al instead. We headed towards the train station, Alphonse and Emma leading the way, as I trailed behind them. We arrived with plenty of time to buy tickets and get a good seat on board.

"Okay, let's get moving." I started walking over to where the ticket seller was, when I realized Emma was still standing under the archway for the station.

"We're going by train?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah, of course. We're headed all the way out near South City. How'd you think we were gonna get there, walk?" I turned back around and purchased our tickets from the man behind the counter.

"Have a nice trip." He said, tipping his hat to me.

"Thanks." I said, scooping up the tickets. I glanced over my shoulder; Alphonse was talking quietly to Emma. She did look a little uncomfortable, and as I watched, Al evidently asked her a question, and she shook her head.

"You ready to go?" I called over to them.

"Yeah, brother. Hang on a second." Alphonse replied

"You ready to go, Em?" He asked Emma. She took a deep breath and nodded, and then followed Alphonse and me onto the train.

I put both of our suitcases on the overhead rack, and slid into the seat opposite Al, facing towards the tail end of the train. We had a nice train, one of the ones with tables built in between the pairs of seats and big windows. Emma hesitated on the spot for a second, and then sat down next to me. She had to, as Alphonse just took up too much room for someone to sit next to him. She placed her grey bag on her lap and clutched the straps.

We sat in silence for a little while as all the other passengers loaded themselves onto the train. Emma stared at her lap, Alphonse read the back of one of his new comics, and I tried to figure out what Emma's problem with trains was.

Finally, the train had finished loading, and the whistle sounded from the front of the train, as we started moving with a slight jolt. The whistle sounded once more as we picked up speed and the train chugged down the tracks. I saw Emma glance out the window, giving the rapidly shrinking platform a look of longing. For a second, I wondered if she was regretting coming with us, all because of a dumb train ride. I sighed and leaned back in my seat. I kicked Alphonse in the shin with my right foot.

He looked up from his comic book at the dull clunk of my shoe against his armor.

"What is it, Brother?"

"Wanna play some poker, Al?" Al rolled his eyes at me and stowed his comic book away. I pulled my deck of cards out of my jacket pocket. I shuffled them neatly and placed the deck on the table.

Glancing at Emma, I asked. "Do you want to play too?" She shook her head.

"No thanks, I'll just watch."

"Good," quipped Al. "You don't want to play poker with Ed. He cheats."

"Hey! I do not!" I snapped, my face turning slightly red.

"Trust me, he does. This one time—"

"Shut it!" I growled, throwing a playing card at him, as Emma laughed. At least she was acting normally again. I dealt out a hand, and Al and I started playing. I actually lost a couple hands, but then again, I was playing cleanly for once. Al seemed to know it too, and started to brag a little every time he won.

Much later, I set my cards down and looked out the window, with a bored expression on my faced. Judging by the red quality of the sky, we'd played into the evening. Al couldn't resist a jibe, apparently.

"What's the problem, Ed? Did ja get tired of losing?"

"I was NOT losing. We were tied."

"Whatever you say, Brother." He replied, in a deny-it-all-you-want voice. I grumbled wordlessly at him, stuffing my deck of cards back in my pocket.

"Wow, Emma. That's really cool!"

"Thanks, Al." I glanced up. While Al and I had been taking each other's money, Emma had been sketching. She must have had the book and pencil in her grey bag.

The drawing that she was working on right now was a simple pencil sketch. When I looked closer, I realized it was a drawing of just my hands, with a hand of cards in them. The detail was incredible. She'd drawn every tiny fold of my gloves and the numbers and symbols on each of the cards. They were shaded in a way they looked real. How she did this on a moving train, I had no idea.

"Do you want to look at them?" She asked Al and me.

"Sure." Al said. Emma surrendered the notebook, and he placed it on the table in front of us. I flipped backwards through it, looking at the sketches. The one before the hands one was a sketch of both me and Al, still playing poker. The scene took in the whole tableau, with the view outside the window, and our seats. This one almost made it gracefully look like the widow itself was the subject, and Al and I were almost in the way—though not annoyingly so. The one before that was a simpler drawing of the deck of cards, with a few discarded ones around it.

Before that one was a colored drawing of a brown-and-white dog, playing with some rope. It was the end of the drawings she had done today, apparently.

"Do you mind if I keep looking at it?" Alphonse asked.

"Not at all." Emma smiled gently. She watched Al pick up the sketchbook and flip through it. I then felt her elbow nudge my ribs gently.

"What?" I muttered.

"You do cheat." She whispered at me. She showed me the paper she was holding in her lap—two other drawings of my hands on a piece of paper torn out of her book. In one, I had a king of hearts, a ten, a nine, a three, and an eight. The second one, my hand of cards had a jack instead of the three, making the hands of cards a strait. The sketches were rough, and quickly done—probably done in the time it would have taken me to switch the cards. I felt myself being to blush.

"That was some pretty nifty sleight-of-hand work." Emma whispered. She grabbed the right sleeve of my coat, pulling my arm under the table, and giving the cloth a shake. The three of spades fluttered out onto the bench between us. Yep—I was definitely blushing now.

I looked up at Emma, knowing my eyes were guilty. But she just smiled softly, which almost aggravated me more than if she had rubbed it in my face that I'd been found out. I felt like the little child who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar— but not in trouble, not a big fuss made at all, but just receiving gentle yet slightly embarrassing rebuke instead.

I looked away determinedly from her wide, brown eyes, placed my left elbow on the table and my chin in my hand, and glared out the window. Alphonse inquired something of Emma, about one of her drawings, and she turned towards him again. As they talked, I felt her press the playing card into the palm of my other hand. My fingers closed around it as she pulled away, and I slid the card back up my sleeve. I didn't glance away from the window until the sun had fully set, and the lights had been lit, casting a soft glow, which was bright enough for those still awake but dim enough for those trying to sleep.

Emma was leaning against the back of the bench, looking a little tired, and Alphonse was reading one of his comics again.

I settled myself back in the nook between the window and the back of the seat, gazing out at the dark countryside flashing by.

Author's Note:

Hey guys. Thanks for waiting so patiently while I finished this up. I'm really gonna try to push through the next chapter quickly, and I promise the kidnappings are coming soon.

Till next time,

Miraie-Chan


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